Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/85081
technology Zero tolerance? It takes more than policy to remove cell phone distractions efore the sun rose on March 26, 2010, a semi- truck departed the left lane of southbound Interstate 65 near Munfordville, Ky. After crossing a 60-foot-wide median into the northbound travel lanes, it struck a 15-passenger van. The truck driver and 10 of the 12 van occupants were killed. Investigators later determined that the truck driver had used his mobile phone for calls and text messages a total of 69 times while driving in the 24-hour period prior to the accident. The driver made four calls in the minutes leading up to the crash. The last call was at 5:14 a.m., the time when the truck departed the highway. Hoping to prevent future tragedies such as this, on B Nov. 23 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a long-awaited final rule that prohibits interstate commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while operating their vehicles. The rule took effect on Jan. 3 and has harsh federal civil penalties for drivers – up to $2,750 per violation. Compa- nies that allow drivers to use handheld cell phones while driving face a maximum penalty of $11,000. The dangers of distracted driving are far greater than the risk of getting caught. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medi- cine, the risk of driving while using a cell phone equals the risk caused by legal intoxication. But obtaining cell phone records is easier than using a breathalyzer to prove guilt. With a final rule now in place, carriers must ➡ NO TALKING. Technol- ogy can manage em- ployee compliance with cell phone policy. ➡ IT'S THE LAW. A new final rule has harsh penalties for drivers and fleets. ➡ RESOURCES. Zoom- Safer's in-depth white- paper about managing distracted driving risks is available at http:// zoomsafer.com/re- sources/#1. have a policy that prohibits drivers from us- ing cell phones while driving. But many – if not most – drivers have grown accustomed to using the devices for business and personal reasons, so implementing a zero-tolerance policy for cell phone use will not be as easy as banning passen- gers or pets from the cab. Any policy that restricts cell phone use by drivers must be accompanied by 38 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JANUARY 2012 safety awareness, training and enforce- ment tools. Writing a policy is the easy part. To get a head start, Operation Safe Driver – a joint program by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Fed- eral Motor Carrier Safety Administra- tion – has published a sample policy against distracted driving on its Website (www.cvsa.org/osd). The next steps are to distribute, train and enforce your policy, and technol- ogy can make the process efficient from